The Sea Witch
by AutumnVictoria
Summary: The Story of the Little Mermaid reversed, in which Ursula is the hero and Ariel is the villain. Written in fairytale style but based on the Disney version of the Little Mermaid.
1. The Lonely Witch and the Prince

Deep in the sea, beneath the ever moving waves, far deeper in the darkest corners of the unexplored ocean lay the home of the sea people. The merpeople ruled the seas, the kings wielding great power over all fish, and the queens, the sirens, wielding great power of their own; the great siren's song, that brought destruction to ships and death to sailors. There were other kinds of sea people, of course, but these half-fish, half-human creatures had climbed to the top and ruled over the others. The king of these merpeople ruled from his glittering, golden city deep in the ocean, and had many daughters, all beautiful of face and voice, able to sing the most enchanting of all siren songs. It was the game of the sirens to take ships and lives for sport. Other sea people were kind and gentle and mostly shy enough to steer clear of the mysterious land people.

Ursula was one of these shy sea people. She preferred to stay deep in her sea cave, far away from the surface and the shore, and far from the sirens. Staying away from the sirens was not difficult, as her people – the half-cephalopods – had long been outcast from the glittering kingdom of the sirens. Ursula and her people had powers of their own; none so beautiful as the siren's song, but more wonderful perhaps. These people had the power of magic and spells.

Despite merely being outcasts, these people were also mainly hermits, living alone and staying deep within the shadowy depths of the ocean. Ursula was alone as well, hiding away in her sea cave, with only her spell books and cave dwelling eels for company.

Occasionally, when she was feeling daring, Ursula would venture out of her cave to gather sea flowers and plants from nearby cliffs to decorate her cave. And on one of these days that she ventured from her cave and swam closer to the surface in search of sea plants, she heard a sound she hadn't heard in many years. It sounded clear as crystal, soft as velvet, beautiful as the golden sunset, yet chilling to the bone; a sound both beautiful and terrible, the siren's song.

Ursula followed the sound, swimming further from the dark and closer to the surface. She saw now the bottom of a ship, tossing in the angry waves. And there on one of the tall, jagged rocks, she spotted the shimmering green scales of a fish tail, the tail of the singing siren.

She could tell by the beauty of the enchanting song that this must be one of the king's daughters. Ursula did not dare to venture above the surface, but merely watched from behind another of the jagged rocks. Surely this ship would sink, as others had before it, their scattered bones of wood now resting deep below the waves. The siren's game was to sink the ships and drown the sailors.

As she watched there was a dull thump as the ship crashed into a jagged rock. As the ship began breaking and sinking, the sailors began plunging into the ocean; some falling to the rocks and others drowning in the waves. The siren paid no heed to any and her song continued. One more sailor plunged into the waves, clear of the rocks, and merely sank. Suddenly the song stopped and the siren dove on him faster than a frenzied shark. This siren was the king's oldest daughter, the most beautiful siren of them all. Her hair was like fire and her scales sparkled like emeralds. She took hold of him, the most important sailor in her eyes, the one she had decided to kill by her own hands.

He was dressed more opulently than the others, in rich blue fabric and gold buttons, one of which the siren ripped from his coat to add to her collection as prize for the drowning. As the siren began to slowly drag the unconscious sailor downward to his death and drowning, Ursula was overcome with the dangerous urge to save him, to ruin the siren's game. Thinking quickly, Ursula devised a spell to help him breathe, a small air bubble. The siren dragged him down and down further into the darkness. She continued down until red blood leaked from his ears and swirled in the water. Then he released her grip on his arm and dove away, back to her home in the depths.

The sailor remained there, slowly sinking; it appeared almost as if he were suspended there in the water, his dark hair swirling around him and the red blood from his ears slowly dissipating. There was something beautiful about him floating there, Ursula thought.

But he didn't have long; soon the spell would fade. Ursula had to make a decision then; to help him or to let him slowly sink. She watched him still as he slowly, slowly, drifted down into deeper darkness.

Half of her wanted to simply watch, to watch his beautiful descent into the cool darkness of the sea. But the spell had faded, and in that moment Ursula knew that she couldn't simply watch; no matter how much the surface frightened her, letting him drown would let the siren have her cruel game. And since he could not save himself, she was the only one who could. She darted out from behind her hiding place and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him upward toward the surface.

She carried him to the shore, though it was far, always keeping his face above the waves. In the dead of the night she left him on the beach. She wanted to stay to watch, to make sure he was found, but she was far too afraid. She rested briefly before making the return journey.

Once she was back inside her cave, safely hidden in the depths, she still could not shake the image of the sailor floating in the darkness of the water; it was the closest she had ever been to one of the land people. An eel nudged her arm, and she patted it on the head gently, still lost in her thoughts of the man in the water.


	2. The Siren and the Spell

For many days she thought of him, and sometimes she would swim to the spot where she had seen the ship sink, not so much in hopes of seeing him again, (for she knew she never would) but simply to remember.

One day, a few weeks or so after, Ursula received a visitor at her cave. The visitor was none other than the king's daughter, the very siren who had tried to drown the sailor. For a moment Ursula feared that she had known that it had been she who had helped him, but the siren soon revealed that it was not so.

"Sea witch!" she called, "I know this is your cave, sea witch… Do not hide from me. I mean no harm, but seek your aid."

This made Ursula leave her hiding place in the shadows and greet the royal siren at the mouth of her cave.

"What can I do for you?" Ursula asked timidly, in a cracking voice that had not been used for years.

"I need your magic, sea witch. I have made a terrible mistake. You must keep this a secret!" the siren said in a hushed whisper.

"Yes of course," said Ursula, motioning for the siren to come inside, "What is it that you need?"

The siren did not answer right away, but instead swam around the cave, looking around at the various plants and spell books and the paintings on the walls. Her glittering beauty was a stark contrast with the dark gloom of the cave. Ursula watched her silently, waiting for an answer.

"I made a mistake," she said finally, "My sisters and I made a bet of sorts, and I claimed to have won. But…" she trailed off, plucking the leaves from a seaweed branch.

"You see," she continued hesitantly, "I claimed to have drowned a prince. And I did, I did not lie, I swore I did. I even have this," she pulled a golden button from her satchel and showed Ursula, "See it even has the crest of the land people's king. But somehow the prince hasn't drowned. That's the problem. I watch the shore and the land people, and I saw him there, perfectly alive. This has ruined my honor as a siren," she said, her head bowed low in shame.

"But!" she exclaimed, suddenly smiling brightly at Ursula, "but then I thought I can make this right! All I have to do is drown him once and for all. And I need your help to do it, sea witch. You must make a spell to give me legs and gills that breathe air. I must venture on land to find and take this prince. And you, dear sea witch, dear Ursula, you can help me with your wonderful magic." She said this with certainty and her voice was like sweet music. Ursula could see through her siren enchantments; however, she had no choice in the matter. This siren was the king's daughter and her will was law; and this time her will was to complete the game that had been left unfinished, the prince who had been left undrowned.

Ursula began flipping through her spells. She knew she could do this; she knew she had the ability. The problem was that she didn't want to. She had to think quickly of a way to make things difficult for this siren. If she simply gave her legs and breath of air, she would easily enchant the prince into diving straight into the ocean with her. Knowing this, Ursula thought of a plan.

"I can do this spell for you," she said, much to the siren's delight, "I can do this, but there is a price. This spell requires an exchange of sorts. Give to me a strand of your hair and perhaps I can use it as exchange."

The siren complied, pulling out a strand of her hair that was so like fire, and giving it to Ursula who placed it into a jar. Next she began the spell to give the siren legs. Amongst the confusion of the spell she hoped the siren would not notice that the strand of hair remained in the jar and was not used at all.

The waters around her swirled and turned strange colors. The water swirled into a cone, enveloping the siren's tail in the strange lights and tumultuous waters, and then slowly all of her was enveloped in the swirling, mixing waters.

The swirling waters began to subside and the colors and lights faded back to darkness. The siren's tail had split and she was now left with two scaly, finned legs.

"The spell is not finished," Ursula explained, "And will continue as you swim. Now listen carefully: this spell will only last three days. At sunset on the third day you will change back. Now you must swim quickly for the surface, for you will drown if you are still here when your lungs change.

Even as Ursula spoke scales began to drop off of the siren's glittering legs.

"Swim quickly!" Ursula urged her. Not wanting to risk drowning herself, the siren swam quickly away. Ursula knew that she would be far away and completely transformed by the time she realized what had really been taken away in the exchange: her voice.

Ursula was now alone again in her dark cave, but she found no comfort. She still thought of him, the sailor (or rather, prince) who she had saved. Now Ursula took the jar containing the single strand of siren's hair. Knowing she could not sit by and let the siren drown the prince, Ursula had decided to warn the prince herself, but she knew she would have to wait a while before venturing to the shore.

She swam slowly around her cave with the eels, pacing about and waiting until enough time had passed. She feared waiting too long as it would give her less time to find and warn the prince.

After a few hours she began a spell on herself. This time she used the siren's hair in the spell to also make herself beautiful. Her normal appearance was nothing to look at, and this was the main reason why the cephalopod people were outcast from the world of the beautiful sirens. She hoped that siren-like beauty would help her to gain trust and attention from the prince. She closed her eyes as the rush of water enveloped her, and waited.

As soon as the swirling, tingling waters had dissipated, Ursula swam frantically to the surface, noticing how difficult it was to swim with only two legs. She had no time to marvel at her new appearance, her first priority was to get to shore as quickly as possible so as not to risk drowning.

The swim to shore was difficult, and the spell was complete before she had made it the whole way. She chocked on the salty water of the sea and fought to keep her mouth above the waves, kicking weakly with untrained legs. It was not until this moment that she realized how dangerous such a spell had been, and wondered if the siren had had just as much difficulty with the journey.

She crawled and stumbled onto the rocky and deserted beach, coughing and sputtering. Her dark hair hung heavily from her head, soaked with water. She opened her satchel and pulled out a wet shawl to wrap around herself. Then she sat in the sand and twisted and wrung her hair. She found it a bit difficult to stand for very long, and walking was strange and awkward. She made herself practice, pacing the beach and walking in circles until it got easier.

She could see buildings past the beach and decided to start looking there. She wondered where the siren was, and if she had already found the prince. She stumbled her way to town, still shaky on her legs.


	3. A New Siren's Song

She had no idea where to begin looking for the prince. The land world was so flat, so different from the sea. The people in town would glance at her but quickly look away. She realized she must look odd, dripping water and wearing a wet shawl as a dress. Her hair was an awful mess as well; she had not expected the dry air to be so cruel to wet hair. The cobblestones of the streets in town were rough and hurt the delicate soles of her feet, each step sending sharp pangs of pain through her new legs. She fell to the ground once she reached the center of town and remained there, reaching down to touch her aching feet. A woman stopped in front of her, smiled, and dropped a few silver coins. She occasionally asked passersby about the prince and where he lived, and they would point to the castle or tell her some sort of gossip about him. The gossip she found most interesting was that of a mysterious mute girl the prince had found on the beach.

She found that sitting there on the ground earned her quite a lot of silver coins. She knew she could not attempt to visit the prince's castle in her current condition, and began asking passersby where she might find food and a place to get clean. One recommended she try the inn not far from where she sat, and she decided to stumble her way there.

At the inn she had enough coin for a meal and a bath, with enough left over for a new dress and shoes (at the innkeeper's recommendation). She found land food to be quite strange and very dry. The bath was her favorite part; being in water felt like home, and eased the aching pain in her feet.

She dressed in her simple new dress and combed out her hair. Her reflection in the large mirror pleased her; long dark hair, beautiful face, and lovely figure. It was a great contrast to her true appearance, and she almost wished she could simply stay this way.

After paying what was owed and thanking the innkeeper, Ursula began the walk to the castle. She doubted that she would be able to get inside, but she at least wanted to stay nearby so that she could watch over him. This way, if the siren tried to lure him out to the sea she would at least try to stop her. She chose a spot with a clear view of the castle gates and sat down in the grass.

* * *

The siren had been furious when she realized the sea witch had taken away her voice. Taking the prince to the sea would have been an easy task with her voice like honey and music. She still had her unmatched beauty though, and she was determined to drown the prince and uphold her siren's honor.

As luck would have it, the prince was visiting the rocky shore of the beach when the siren washed ashore. He took pity on her, since he had also been the lone survivor of a shipwreck (which he believed had been her fate), and brought her back to his castle to be nursed back to health.

The siren soon had him wrapped around her finger; the shipwreck assumption had worked entirely in her favor, and she was doted on excessively. She decided to take her time, enjoying all of the wealth and splendor of the land people. She knew, though, that her time was limited. She had only three days to drown the prince, and one had already been spent. She wished for more time, not simply because she lacked a clear plan of how her goal would be achieved, but also because the splendor of the castle and the land people fascinated her far more than she had expected. As she lay down to sleep for the night she put herself to sleep with thoughts of a royal ball, dancing with the handsome land prince, her own glittering ball gown that shone like her emerald scales swirling around her as she danced. She drifted off to sleep with a sigh, the magnificent party carrying over into her dreams.

* * *

Ursula gazed up at the castle from where she sat in the grass. She found that years of living in a dark cave made it easy for her to see well in the dark on land. The castle was magnificent, and even the gates surrounding it were wonderful to behold. The grounds were filled with lush greenery and plants that Ursula had never before seen. A rush of sadness fell over her when her thoughts unintentionally returned to the siren. She wondered what beauty was hidden from her eyes inside the castle, she wondered what splendor the siren had already seen. What she felt, she realized, was a twinge of jealousy; that she was outside and alone, and the siren was within. She absentmindedly began to sing; it was a sad, old song she had learned long ago. But it sounded different now, even to her own ears. The siren's voice had changed the sad song of the lonely cephalopod to one of sweet mournfulness and beauty. The sweet song was carried on the wind, almost tangibly swirling around her and drifting toward the castle. Even as she sang, she thought she caught a glimpse of a dark figure on a balcony, and wondered if it could be the prince listening to her song.


End file.
